RT3S DMR Radio and Cable Bundle

I have had this radio for about two weeks. As a new DMR user, it took me quite a few days to understand the differences between Zone, Channel, Contact , Codeplug, etc. I got help from online product groups as well as from a few local users.

Good radio for the price

Super easy

Good radio

Good outdoor radio, very well built. Very good price.

I'm really enjoying this radio. It's a fantastic first DMR device

nce programmed, the configuration file is called (by Amateurs), a Code Plug. The Code Plug software is not like Chirp, or RT Systeme, where they use a spreadsheet and programming is quite simple

Purchased when on sale. There is a new model with GPS reportedly on the way. I am not a cheerleader of Chinese radios, but then again I am not a sour crab like a lot of Ham's that cry like babies at every radio that rolls in front of them that isn't a Motorola etc...

Excellent DMR radio for the price. The radio itself performs great on both DMR and analog and the RX is damn good. The display is big and bright and although it has two icons/symbols that take up real estate and serve no purpose overall it's not bad. I like the fact it has programmable side buttons, it adds a professional feel to the radio. This looks like a high end radio and doesn't look like a cheap Chinese throw away

I've been hearing about DMR locally. Watched some You Tube videos and got interested in the mode late last year. The last radio club meeting had a local DMR repeater system guru give a presentation and that got me even more interested. I was ready to pull the trigger but put it off a little. Then an even better deal came along and I snatched this guy up.

Great radio for both digital and analog voice modes.

I have programmed this radio to function as a 80 Channel UHF radio in Australia. I am very happy with this product. Programming in the usual 80 UHF channels was easy, i then duplicated all of these again as digital channels. But with the extra digital channels, i had to do a bit of research to understand what DMR was and how to set up the channels to transmit and receive in digital. To encrypt the digital to have encrypted comms, you will need to generate Hex keys but these are easy to do as you can google for sites that generate random hex keys, that you can copy and paste into the programming software. My next step will be to set up a DMR repeater on a hill, so that my mates can have encrypted long distance comms. Remember that SDR (Software defined radio) and newer scanners can easily decode DMR transmittions, but when the encryption is turned on, its almost impossible to decode it unless you have a super computer, and 100 years of personal spare time to wait while it trys to crack the encryption. More UHFers & 27 Meggers should use DMR as there is no Metadata to entrap you.

I cannot say enough positive things about this radio. I absolutely love it! Big, bright display. Crisp, clear audio. Well built and tougher than any HT I've ever owned. Connected to the Brandmeister or DMR-MARC networks via local repeaters or my DVMega hotspot, I've been able to talk all over the world on this little 5 watt HT. Absolutely amazing. The programming software is actually pretty decent once you learn how to program in your channels, contacts, zones and scanlists. Lots of Youtube videos that will show you how. There's one other thing I need to mention about the RT3S ... this radio is not advertised as waterproof and yet a couple days after I bought it, it fell into the kitchen sink, which was full of water. The radio came out unscathed. Audio still perfect, display still perfect ... still no problems 2 weeks after dropping into the sink. Bottom line, this is a solid, well built little radio. I wrote this review on my own volition... I was NOT compensated for writing this review.

Bought the Retevis RT3S because of its good reputation amongst other ham radio operators using it to learn digital mobile radio (DMR). This radio is my second hand-held DMR radio

I really like this radio. I bought it to dip my toes into DMR, and for the price, it seems like it's very well made. It took a bit of research to figure out how to program it, but once I got that figured out, it was very easy to use. The closest dmr repeater to me is 25 miles away, and I have no problem at all reaching it from inside the house. If it had a louder speaker and could program repeaters and talkgroups from the front panel, I would have given it 5 stars.

There are many reviews about this radio and lots of information on the internet. I'll be brief. Fit and finish are very good. It's robustly constructed with thick plastic case. Keys have firm feel and you hear a click as key is pressed. Battery engages firmly and smoothly. Unit slips snugly into charging base but requires several (like 8) hours to fully charge. Battery life is good. Buy a second battery when you order this as they are very reasonably priced. Display is pleasing and bright indoors, but is difficult to read in bright sunlight. Transmitted and received audio is crisp and clean. Unit feels good (but not great) in your hand. There is third party software that adds many features to this radio and tremendously improves its value. You will be doing yourself a disservice by not using the third part software.

Received my order on time, and product packaging was good to go. Radio came with a charge on the battery, and quickly charged to 100% I have not had any issues with the radio so far. It was easy to program with the code plugs, and battery life has been good s far.

If you don't know anything about DMR radios find a "ham" friend who does. Also, before ordering make sure you are in range of a DMR repeater. Without the "code plugs" (small software data file) for your area it is useless. With the code plugs it is amazing! It is possible to talk around the world with this radio! The radio comes with the programming cable needed to upload the "code plugs" and two antennas, a "stubby" (short range) and a 14" whip (longer range). Some listings for this radio (including the user manual that came with mine) say it is a dual band, 2m and 70cm, analog and digital... it is only 70cm (UHF)... but it is both analog and digital. The price here is very reasonable.

I do not have my HAM license yet. So, I will do nothing with this till I am 'legally' able to use it. I do not want to anger the FCC, before I get started. I saw many people say on Youtube that they would not want to drop this unit. I totally disagree. I would bet this unit would handle being dropped way better than my BCD 436 HP $500.00 scanner. JMO Well constructed, Compact, but not cheap feeling. I realize this is entry level, but I bet I will be using this unit for years to come. And, what they say comes in the box, actually comes in the box. Includeing CD Rom.

Very, very happy with this radio for the price. Construction is sturdy, audio quality is excellent, and the price is definitely right.

great product for the price

I bought this radio as it can be used with open firmware. Its a very nice radio. Vendor support was excellent! Quick to reply to all my emails. Windows 11 drivers need some adjustments.

I use it for Search and Rescue and it has really good range, easy to use, and is very durable. Might wven buy another one.

Excellent with OpenGD77 and DIAMOND SRHF10.

Wanted to get into DMR this is a good ticket! OBTW the radio is good DMR is hard to learn

Seems to be a very solid built radio. Easy to use and has great sound. Excellent little radio in my opinion.

Good service, great product, fair price.

GOOD ONE

I highly recommend this radio with OpenGD77 firmware installed. It works very well on both DMR and analog. The antenna it came with has excellent SWR and decent performance. Note that replacing the antenna with one that has a high SWR will cause high Bit Error Rates. Just use the stock antenna or make sure you test any replacement antenna you plan to use.

I purchased this item because I love the Retevis brand and wanted to download the opengd77 software and wow what a great software for this awesome radio! If you love DMR you should purchase this handheld device u won't be let down Retevis did a great job with this device!!!

Works as should. Easy to set up and use

I use Retevis RT3S as a private radio for fire service. Works as well as the much more expensive competitor. A friend of mine programmed it for me. I believe looking through the directions provided, it would be a challenge to attempt this myself.

This is quite a radio for the low purchase price, but be aware of the associated learning curve required to program every option just right.

We purchased these radios to use while ski patrolling. The only issue I have is the delay once I push the button to talk. You have to wait 2-3 seconds prior to speaking, otherwise it’s cutoff. Once we learned that, we have no issues. They work well.

We use several of these and its predecessor RT3 on Ski Patrol. They have been put through rough and wet times, always work. The waterproof shoulder mic is recommended. Programming is simple, battery life excellent. More reliable than $400+ Motorola's.

Great easy to use dual band radio. Uses the common RDT code plug files and shares from other DMR radios. Good audio, easier to use

Little expensive for me but it works great.

This is a sweet little radio that feels good in your hand as well as looks great with an awesome fit and finish

I was able to flash the radio with the OpenGD77 firmware easily. It works like a ham radio now. Make sure the date code on your unit serial number is early 2022 instead of 122022 and get a unit with GPS!

Actually the first thing I did when I got this radio is to install OpenGD77 firmware on it. The RT3S with OpenGD77 gives you an amazing DMR experience for less than $100.

I use it with both of my hotspots - simplex and duplex - as well as in analog mode with our local 2m and 70cm repeaters. This has become my everyday carry radio.

I have had the Tytera/TYT version of this radio for several years and have been using it very well. I decided to upgrade to GPS with this product from Retevis and it has been better than I expected,

Best, low-cost entry into DMR. Step 1 buy this radio Step 2 backup code plug and calibration stuffs Step 3 obtain OpenGD77 CPS, donor file, firmware Step 4 profit! I got excellent reports on my audio talking on a 2m repeater about 10 miles away, talked on a DMR repeater about the same distance away, and just today talked using a pi-star hotspot. Everything just works great 👍

I purchased this radio to use with an Arrow handheld Yagi antenna to work the FM satellites (ISS, Tevels, SO-50) and used OpenGD-77 firmware with it. So far I am having a great time talking to other HAM operators through the SATs with this HT! I recommend it!

This is my first DMR radio and I love it. I have been a Ham for years and just now have found DMR. This HT has performed great. It is easy to program with the CPS and included programming cable once you get over the learning curve associated with DMR

Excellent with OpenGD77 and DIAMOND SRHF10.

Grabbed this cheap radio as a loner dmr radio it's a great radio but does not have all the benefits of the more expensive radios. If you just want to get on dmr and talk this will work.

I was looking for an inexpensive DMR/Analog radio to use while hiking, and the RT3s definitely fills that need.Radio is solidly made and has endured a good deal of abuse without complaint or issue. I find the audio is very good and the RF performance is at least as good as much more expensive radios. Overall it has more than met my expectations, and I find it easy to use. Especially after customizing the programmable buttons. if you want a solid basic radio that works well, the RT3S will do the job very well.

Easy to program and is my every day radio

The item arrived on time, however there was a minor issue with the screen, Retevis contacted me immediately and they sent me a new machine, no questions asked. I received it yesterday and I must say I am extremely happy and excited, Retevis really stands behind their product and they want their customers to be 100% satisfied. They apologized multiple times and I am very impressed with their customer service. This is my second Retevis product and after this experience I will be a lifelong customer.

I do not use the RT3S with the original manufacturer firmware. I install the amateur radio openGD77 firmware which works great and offers much more functionality than the original firmware. There are many installation videos on youtube and on the project website openGD77.com

I created a gremlin in the programming software results that made the radio look right, but not transmit/receive. I used both the Retevis and RT Systems software. I emailed Retevis support, and plus/minus the time zones got an immediate, personable response. We had several productive exchanges with troubleshooting information. I went back to a full reset, reloaded the program I'd created and this time it worked. I got two followup emails to make sure the radio was performing. Can't ask for more! The radio is working very well making use of both digital and analog channels, with good audio reports and otherwise good operation. Very satisfied.

The radio itself is great. Once I rid it of the factory firmware and installed open gd77 it was good to go. I like it enough to where I've bought a few of them.

The build quality of the radio is top notch. The screen is clear and the battery life when idle is good. I really wish I could figure out how to use DMR

This is my second Retevis and this RT3S performs very well. The battery life is good and the radio is easy to program.

Use it for our volunteer fire department.

Build quality is good. Lots of digital functionality that would normally cost you $300 or more. Programming is typical of these radios and may take a bit to learn. USB-C charging would be nice but for this price, I'm happy with the included charge cradle.

I own 2 of these. One with stock firmware and one with openGD77. Both work without issue. But, I do like the openGD77 software. Great audio on RX and TX. No issues with the local repeaters or hotspots I have.

Using as a scanner for local police (digital) and fire dept.(analog), excellent reception. Dual receiver works great!